Parting Gift
by Blackbirdox
Summary: Faced with having to leave his girlfriend after spending Spring Break together, Neil comes up with a way to always remember the time they shared.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Dead Poets Society. Isn't that obvious by now? I also do not own Charlie though I have borrowed him for _personal uses_ and do not plan on giving him back. I also stole a few lines from Dear Prudence by The Beatles. Those aren't mine either. I don't have that kind of writing talent. **

**A/N: This was written for DeadPoet0712 who I promised Neil smut to months ago. She wrote me Charlie smut so I figured the trade off was fair. I hope she enjoys it and that the rest of you do as well. Reviews are always appreciated!**

Neil was in love. As he'd never actually been in love before, it was a strange conclusion to draw but he'd never been more certain of anything in his entire life. She aroused every physical and emotional sign synonymous of being in love from within him right down to the rapid heart rate and the butterfly-like fluttering in his stomach. He was just crazy about her.

He was also dreading his return to Welton after enjoying spending his Spring Break with her. Granted, the time they'd had together was short but after getting by on just phone calls and letters for a few months, it was a welcome change. Other methods of communication paled in comparison to being able to directly hold a conversation with her. He wanted to see her face when she laughed rather than listen to the tinny sound filtering in through the telephone receiver. He wanted to see the spark of fire that would flash in her eyes when she scolded him and not just see the words scrawled out on paper. He wanted to see her smile at him and not just have to imagine it from a distance.

There was so much he missed about her when they were apart. There were little things and big things and then there were the things that made him fall in love with her in the first place- the laugh and the spark and the smile. He couldn't think of one single, solitary thing that he didn't love about her because even her flaws seemed to be somehow perfect.

He was entranced by the ethereal glow she radiated in the light of the afternoon sun they were basking in. Her eyes were closed; her lengthy lashes fanning out perfectly across the silky smooth skin of her cheek. Her hair shimmered and shined and illuminated the slight flecks of red that lay entwined in the chestnut strands. The quiet squeak of her bedsprings creaking below his weight shattered the tranquil silence that surrounded them as he reaches over and tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

The subtle movement causes her to open her eyes and they seem to dance with happiness as she lifts her gaze to meet his. They share a smile and Neil lavishes a gentle kiss to her forehead as he whispers, "Do you know how pretty you are?"

April merely giggles and turns onto her side to nuzzle her face into his chest. "I only know that you say that too much," she retorts, her voice slightly muffled by the fabric of his shirt.

Neil scoffs quietly and lays back against the pillows again, winding his arms around her waist to hold her where she was. "I say it because it's true."

He looks over the top of her head and stares aimlessly out the window, watching the little reflections of rainbows that dance across the pane of glass when the rays of sunlight hit it just right. He begins to gently run his hand up and down her side, humming to himself under his breath.

April shifts a little in his arms and a smile tugs at the corner of her pretty pink lips. "That's pretty."

Neil grins and buries his face in her hair. "The sun is up, the sky is blue. It's beautiful and so are you," he murmurs, pressing a kiss to the side of her head.

A rush of color floods her cheeks and she hides her face again, simply shaking her head in both embarrassment and amusement. "You're so full of it."

He laughs as he pulls her a little closer to him. "The wind is low, the birds will sing that you are part of everything," he continues, undeterred by her reaction.

April delivers a playful slap to his chest which only causes Neil to laugh harder. "Shut up," she playfully growls and ends up laughing as well.

Neil gasps dramatically and feigns a fake look of hurt, jutting his lower lip out into a pout for emphasis. "Make me!"

She shakes her head again and leans up just as he leans down and they meet together in a seamless kiss. Neil smiles against her lips for a moment and he moves one hand up from her waist to place it on the nape of her neck. Their lips move together in effortless ease and as he runs his tongue across her lower lip to ask for permission she happily allows, he tangles his hand into her hair, twisting the silky strands around his fingers.

As the kiss is continued, he begins to cautiously move the hand that's still on her hip. He inches it up slowly, trying not to startle her, and when his fingers brush against the hem of her blouse, he pushes the gauzy fabric up by a minute measure, exposing just a hint of her skin.

She gasps into his mouth and Neil stills immediately but he can feel her hand grasp his shirt and he can tell by the way her fingers curl around it, what he'd done hadn't been a bad thing. It had in fact been the very opposite.

He bunches her shirt up a little farther and rolls over on top of her as he trails his hand over her hip and across the planes of her stomach. He's met with no resistance and so he breaks the kiss, takes a moment to catch his breath, and leans back in to press a series of gentle kisses along the line of her jaw, down her neck, and over to the spot below her ear.

April gasps again, louder this time, and tightens her grip on the fabric of his flannel shirt. He knows this is her spot and the reaction he evokes from her causes him to pause for a moment to smile to himself. He hasn't gotten to this point very often and he plans to take advantage of it then best that he can. Neil gently bites down on the spot- being careful not to hurt her- and the soft, breathy moan he elicits in response causes a slight shudder to run down his spine.

He doesn't know where this is going but his mind is already whirling with possibilities. They haven't made it past this point in terms of how far either one of them was willing to go but over the past few days, Neil had begun to get curious. He loves her with all of his heart and would never pressure her into anything she wasn't ready for but the allure of sex was hard for him- a teenage boy- to ignore.

He knows it would be special. Perfect, really. He's as inexperienced as she is and he entertains the romantic notion of what it would mean to be each other's first. He can't speak for her but he knows that for him, it would mean the world and he assumes- hopes- she'd feel the same.

So with a newfound confidence, he pulls back and without leaving any time to let either of their nerves get in the way, he eases her blouse up and slips it over her head.

April immediately flushes, sending a rush of color into her cheeks. Neil stares into her eyes for a moment, searching for any sign that he'd done wrong and he can see the uncertainty and the hesitance there but the shy little smile on her lips lets him know this is okay.

Offering a small smile of his own, he casts his gaze downward and his breath hitches in his throat. She's beautiful- more so than he ever could imagine- and he revels in the thought of knowing that she's his. A quiet little gasp tumbles out of his mouth as his eyes roam over the lacy cups of her bra, drinking in every detail as he watches her chest rise and fall with the steady- though slightly more rapid- pattern of her breathing.

"Neil?" she asks timidly, drawing his attention back to her face.

Her cheeks are still a vibrant red and the normally neat and stylized waves of her hair are now tangled and falling waywardly across her face and the pillow behind her and he loves seeing her this way but his eyes can only stay locked with hers for a few moments before they're looking down again. He simply cannot help himself.

He can hear her giggle and feels his own cheeks heat up in embarrassment. As he begins trailing his hands down her side, she raises her own and begins fumbling with the buttons on his shirt. He tugs down the zipper on her skirt, waits for her to get the buttons undone, and then in one fluid motion, almost perfectly in synch, they rid each other of the designated pieces of clothing.

Silence falls over the room again as glances are exchanged and timid touches are made. Neil captures April's hand in his when she reaches forward for his belt and he gives it a gentle squeeze and presses a light kiss to the back of it. "Do you… want to?" he asks, nervously licking his lips. He'd be fine with either answer. Perhaps a little disappointed but certainly it'd be something he'd get over.

She gnaws on her bottom lip for a moment as she carefully considers the decision she's been faced with. He can still see the uncertainty in her eyes and imagines there's something similar reflected in his own. After a minute that seems to drag on for an hour for Neil, she gives a cautious nod of her head. "Yeah," she whispers breathlessly, uttering an awkward laugh. "Why not?"

Needing no further encouragement, Neil lets go of her hand and leans down and kisses her again. He was more eager than he could have ever imagined being and he felt like his heart might just beat right out of his chest with excitement.

April fumbles a little as she claws at the metal buckle of his belt, causing him to groan quietly. Her shaking fingers are all over the place and causing an unplanned- though not undesired- reaction for him. He shifts his hips a little, desperately in need of friction and her hand pulls away in surprise when she brushes against him.

She breaks the kiss and stares up at him with wide eyes causing him to blush again. "S-Sorry," he mumbles bashfully, biting down on his bottom lip.

When her shock wears off a little, she shakes her head and ends up blushing as well. "No, its… its okay."

She finishes removing his belt, trying not to drag the process out for too long. Her hands are still shaking but seem to be a little steadier as she unbuttons and unzips his pants, pushing them down his hips. Neil kicks them off quickly and trails his hand back up her side to rest it on the clasp of her bra.

April swallows nervously and encourages him with another nod. He undoes the clasp and fervently removes it from her body, nearly tearing the flimsy fabric in the process. Happy to have it out of the way, Neil haphazardly tosses it to the side and the soft clink that the metal wires make when they hit the wood floor is the only sound to be heard as Neil is too dumbstruck and April is too embarrassed to say anything.

Once again, his eyes are drawn downward and he can't tear his gaze away or think or even breathe correctly because the girl beneath him-_ his_ girl, the girl who is the love of his life- is half naked and Neil has never seen anything so beautiful in his entire life. He always thinks she's gorgeous but he sees her in an entirely new light now. A light that he happens to really, really like.

He clears his throat to get himself to focus and kisses her again as he rapidly tugs off the remaining articles of clothing beneath them. He hadn't been in a hurry before but now, now this was all he could think of. He wanted her. _Needed_ her. He doesn't let his lips linger for very long and when he pulls back, he gives her the most reassuring smile that he can.

"You're sure?" Neil asks, giving her one last chance to back out.

Still unable to speak, April gives an eager nod and wraps her legs around his waist in validation. Neil places one hand on the pillow next to her to hold himself up and lets the other come to rest on her hip, eager to provide a comforting touch. He wants to make sure she's as comfortable as possible. He doesn't want to hurt her any more than he knows he has to.

He lavishes another kiss to her lips and keeps it going for a few moments as a way to distract her as his fingers begin to knead small, absentminded patterns into her skin. When he feels she's relaxed enough and it's best to move on, Neil angles his hips and slowly and gently enters her.

The kiss is broken immediately by his gasp and her cry of pain that are released at almost the exact same moment. The sound just kills him to hear because as pleasant as this is for him, he's hurt her and that's the one thing he never, ever wanted to do. He presses a kiss to the bridge of her nose and then both of her cheeks as he whispers apologies in the most soothing tone that he can. Her eyes are closed tightly but there's a single tear that's escaped them and he brings his hand up to wipe it away with the pad of his thumb.

Neil is still and silent as he can for the pain to fade. The amount of time is agonizing for him but it's necessary and he tries his best to be patient. He wouldn't want to make anything worse. April eventually opens her eyes and though they're still shimmering with tears, there's a brightness in them Neil has never seen before and it makes him smile.

Having been given an unspoken okay, he captures her lips in a kiss and slowly begins to move. He does his best to keep his thrusts at a slow and controlled pace, allowing them both to adjust to the feeling. He'd heard stories and tales from friends and often imagined this himself but nothing had prepared him for this. This was better than anything he had expected or even could have expected. This was perfect. Plain and simple.

Neil picks up the pace a little when April began meeting his movements and as they fall into a synchronized rhythm, he pulls back from the kiss and lets his lips return to her spot. He finds the slightly faded bite mark he'd left earlier and begins to suck on the sensitive skin. April gasps loudly in response and her arms wind around him; her nails digging into his back. The sensation is a little strange and a tad painful but it's easy to ignore because he's caused this reaction and he couldn't be more proud of that fact.

Their pace gradually increases in speed and moans and soft cries and the squeaking of the bed springs are filtering in and cutting the silence in the air between them. As Neil finishes leaving a mark on her skin, he bites down on it and angles his hips just right to hit her spot.

April swears loudly- a word that Neil has only heard pass her lips a handful of times- and he eagerly speeds up, making a point to hit that exact spot with every thrust.

Within moments, it was enough for April to reach her climax, crying out his name and arching her back and digging her nails further into skin and Neil is certain that there is no better feeling or sound in the world.

Neil follows almost immediately and a loud groan tears its way out of his chest as a hot surge of white heat explodes around him. Spots of light dance in front of his eyes and he squeezes them shut as he buries his face in the crook of her neck, trying to catch his breath.

Slowly, his breathing pattern regulates and he rolls off of her, letting her settle into his chest. He could stay this way forever and never feel the urge to move and he can't imagine what it's going to feel like to leave her. He can't even bear the thought of it and the thoughts cause his confession to leave his mouth without even a second thought. "I love you," he voices, turning his head to the side to look down at her.

April blinks and stares up at him blankly, letting what they've done and what he's said fully settle in. A few moments pass before she smiles brilliantly and presses a kiss to his cheek. "I love you, too."

Neil breathes a content sigh and pulls her closer to him. Leaving will be hard but he now has a memory to hold him over until they can be together again.


End file.
